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Monday, November 3, 2014

Boots & Backpacks by KC Kahler

The Blog Tour for Boots & Backpacks is in full swing and I get to be a part of it today! I'm so excited to have new author, K C Kahler visit with an excerpt from her book, Boots & Backpacks. Enjoy!

Blurb:

Boots & Backpacks

Pride and Prejudice
on the Appalachian Trail, roughly

William Darcy counts down the last few months to his 30th
birthday with dread. Orphaned as a child, his parents’ will includes a bizarre
clause: Darcy must get married by his 30th birthday in order to inherit the
family fortune. To make matters worse, the press knows about this deadline, as
do the hordes of women chasing him in the hopes of becoming Mrs. Darcy. His
family legacy hangs in the balance, but Darcy has little faith in the fairer
sex. Will he find a woman he wants to marry, and quickly?

Elizabeth Bennet is determined to pursue her education and
career without letting a man get in the way. When her traveling companion drops
out, her planned hike on the Appalachian Trail is jeopardized. She meets the
spoiled, snobby William Darcy just when he is desperate to escape the
spotlight. No one will suspect that the Prince of Manhattan has gone
backpacking! Darcy and Elizabeth form a tenuous partnership and begin a
300-mile journey that will transform them both.

In classic romantic comedy tradition, Boots& Backpacks
follows our reluctant partners as they build trust, friendship, and even more.
Six weeks together on America’s most famous hiking trail may turn out to be
just what these two need!

This is a
scene from Chapter 3 where Darcy is using Twitter to stay one step ahead
(barely) of gossip reporter Gwen Younge and her minions. FYI, Carlos is Darcy’s
driver.

-----------

Distance from New York City: 0 miles

Forced matrimony in: 59 days

Darcy turned
onto Tenth Avenue and ran as fast as his Gucci Oxfords would let him. He’d
thought sending Carlos and his brother Hector out as decoys was a stroke of
genius. Hector looked like Darcy. Most of the paparazzi and the women of a
certain ilk in hot pursuit had been fooled. But not all. When Darcy had tried
to hail a cab nearly two blocks from the Darcy & De Bourgh offices, they’d
spotted him, despite the ridiculous hat he wore in disguise. Then Darcy had bolted,
testing the aforementioned designer footwear.

But Darcy was
a runner, and now he reaped the benefits of those many hours spent on the
treadmill by giving everyone the slip. He didn’t know where he was going. He’d
felt caged in his apartment, then caged at the office, and he needed to escape.
As he loitered near Penn Station, trying to figure out his next move and still
wearing the stupid hat, he took out his phone.

In the last
few days, he had discovered something useful: his various pursuers all followed
Gwen Younge—NY Tribune gossip
columnist and bane of his existence for the last eight years—on Twitter. If she
didn’t know Darcy’s whereabouts, one of her many followers would spot him and
then tweet that to Gwen. So, even though it went against his very being, Darcy
began to follow Gwen on Twitter. At least he might have some warning as to when
and where the horde would be heading next. He particularly loved when some
loser saw him where he wasn’t, thus sending the throng on a wild goose chase.

But as the latest
tweets revealed, that wasn’t the case at the moment.

Gwen Younge: @SillySally Follow him
if you can! Keep tweeting until we get there. You’re da bomb, Sally. #Darcy

2:37 PM September 9th

SillySally: @GwenYounge Damn he runs fast. Sorry
I lost him. #Darcy

2:44 PM September 9th

Ha!

Darcy managed
to get to the upper level. He didn’t know why he went that way, other than it
was where he, Bingley, and Caroline had caught the train to New Jersey a few
weeks ago.

The Hursts! He
could go to the Hursts’ to buy himself some time. No one would think to look
for him there, at least not for a while. Then maybe he could charter a plane
somewhere, get Carlos to come pick him up. Though where he would fly, he didn’t
know.

Gwen Younge: Any news, Sally? Or
anyone else? We’re almost there but Penn Station is really big. #Darcy

2:53 PM September 9th

Ha!

Darcy
remembered Ridgewood was the nearest station to the Hursts, and he bought a
ticket for the next train at the automated ticket machine. As the train left
the station, he watched that cursed Twitter feed to see if he’d been spotted.

Vampgrrl: @GwenYounge I’m not sure, but I
think I saw #Darcy near the NJ Transit tracks about 5 minutes ago

3:11 PM September 9th

Shit! At least
they didn’t know which train. Two others were departing within a few minutes of
his.

GwenYounge: @Vampgrrl Thanks for the tip. It’s
our best lead right now. Stay tuned, my NJ tweeps. I may need you to spot
#Darcy

3:20 PM September 9th

The Hursts
weren’t usually on Gwen’s radar. Darcy hadn’t associated with them often since
they’d started popping out kids. His lifestyle didn’t exactly gel with
wholesome family activities. Gwen might eventually think to check up on the
Hursts, but not in the next hour. He should be able make it to them unnoticed,
as long as none of the other passengers on the train recognized him. They all
appeared to be commuter types, wrapped up in their papers and phones. With his
suit and tie, he fit right in.

Darcy stopped
obsessively checking Twitter to call the Hursts. It went to voicemail. Three
times. Shit. He only had half an hour until he reached Ridgewood. He didn’t
know the address of their house, nor did he have any idea if they were even
home, so catching a cab at the station would get him nowhere. Darcy didn’t have
many options left, and was running out of time.

Bingley’s Jane
Bennet dalliance hadn’t lasted long enough to capture Gwen’s interest. Bingley
wasn’t Gwen’s main focus anyway; Darcy had that dubious honor. Maybe he could
find Jane at Bennet Realty and ask her for somewhere to hide for an hour. He
couldn’t imagine her refusing; she had acted so nice, and despite what he’d
told Bingley, he now found himself hoping she was genuine. It wasn’t much of a
plan, but it was all he had.

The train
arrived in Ridgewood. As he headed toward Bennet Realty, he called the Hursts
again. Still voicemail. He didn’t bother leaving another message.

When he
reached the office, a sign on the door read, “We will return in 30 minutes.”
Shit—now what? Did he go to a coffee shop to wait and risk being spotted? With
dread he checked Gwen’s tweets.

GwenYounge: NJ tweeps: any of you near Teterboro
or Ridgewood? If so, DM me. #WheresDarcy

4:10 PM September 9th

Shit.
Teterboro had an airport that Darcy used once in a while for a charter plane.
That was an obvious choice for suspicion. But there was only one reason
Ridgewood would be mentioned: Gwen had figured out the Hurst connection, or
maybe the Jane Bennet connection, but she didn’t want to broadcast their names
to all her followers yet. Many of her followers were competing reporters.

He could call
Carlos, but it would take at least an hour to make it out of the city on a
weeknight. Darcy had maybe 10 minute until the streets around the train station
were swarming with press and celebrity-watchers. And he was marooned here. In
New Jersey.

Although he
itched to return her sarcasm, he couldn’t afford to piss her off. “I, ahh…I was
hoping to see your sister.”

“Jane’s away
at a conference.”

Darcy cursed
under his breath and checked the dreaded Twitter feed. There was nothing new
yet, at least not public. “I find myself a bit stranded here…” He couldn’t
bring himself to ask her for help, partly because he knew she’d refuse.

“Why don’t you
call the Hursts?”

“I did. It
keeps going to voicemail.”

“Well, I’m
sure they’ll get back to you soon,” she said by way of dismissal.

He rubbed his
hand over his face, completely out of options. “Not soon enough,” he muttered.

“How’s
Charlie?” Darcy was shaken from his pessimism by Elizabeth’s sharp question.
She stood gripping the handle of the door that led up to her apartment, looking
accusingly at him.

“He’s fine.
He’s at work now.”

“He’s fine.
I’m so glad to hear it.” She sounded
anything but glad, but Darcy didn’t care that she was ticked off about
something. As far as he could tell, she was always ticked off. Then she added,
“You’re not working, of course.”

“I have a few
other things going on at the moment.” He scanned the street. He had to call
Carlos, though there was little hope of getting out of here unnoticed.

“Like what?”

“Like being
stuck here without a plan and dreading the moment when the hordes of women and
paparazzi find me, that’s what.”

“How could
they find you here?”

“They always find me—Goddamned Twitter,” he
said more to himself than in answer to her question. “Look, I’m trying to think
and you’re distracting me. Have a nice life and all that.” He turned to leave.

“Wait. I don’t
get it—Twitter?”

“I’d just love to explain Twitter to you, but I
really can’t stay out here any longer.” He scanned the street again. “I need to
find…someplace. I’m sure they’re already on their way.” He began to walk away.

“Ugh, so
melodramatic!”

He paused,
saying over his shoulder, “You really have no clue, do you? Wait an hour and then tell me I’m being melodramatic.”

“Fine. You can
come up to the apartment for one hour.”

He turned to
her, gaping.

“Well? Don’t
you want to get inside before you’re seen by the frightful Twitter-happy
ladies?” She flapped her hands around in mock terror.

He didn’t
care that she mocked him. She’d soon be proven wrong, and in the meantime, he
would have a nice private place to wait for Carlos. He strode back and held the
door open for her. “After you.”

KC
Kahler has worked as a writer and editor in both non-profit and academic
settings. Until discovering Jane Austen Fan Fiction several years ago, KC’s
writing had been limited to the dry and technical, which is a shame, since she
considers herself witty and sparkling. Her first novel, Boots &
Backpacks, will be published in 2014 by Meryton Press.

KC
lives on a four-acre slice of Penn’s Woods with her husband and two dogs. They
enjoy hiking, gardening, and being beer snobs.

Thanks for stopping busy on your busy tour, KC. It is great to have you here and look forward to a return visit in the future. Best wishes with your new release.

For all you readers, I would love to hear your thoughts on this fascinating excerpt!

8 comments:

I got to read this one for review and had a good time with it. Those twitter stalkers were some of the most amusing parts. Poor guy! Glad I'm just a commoner. I'd hate to be that sort of focus for total strangers.